Toward Spectacle-Free Cataract Surgery

Article preview from Start-Up - December 18, 2013

After a lull, or at least a single-minded focus on femtosecond lasers for a time, refractive surgery has gotten exciting again: the drive to spectacle-free outcomes for cataract patients (who have aged-out of their eligibility for other refractive procedures) is calling for solutions that offer precision and accuracy at every stage of treatment. Start-ups coming up with the solutions will be serving some gigantic markets.

Toward Spectacle-Free Cataract Surgery

Article preview from Start-Up - December 18, 2013

The vibrant community of start-ups, venture capitalists, and physicians at the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit (OIS) that preceded the 2013 American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting in New Orleans in November presented a welcome contrast to the all too typical dreary tales coming from medtech start-ups seeking capital. According to data from Elsevier’s Strategic Transactions, which was presented by the meeting’s co-founder, ophthalmologist and venture capitalist Emmett Cunningham, MD, PhD (of Clarus Ventures), VCs still see great potential in ophthalmic companies, particularly those with medical devices, where $200 million had been invested in 2013 as of October, twice the amount that had been invested for all of the previous year. (See Exhibit 1.)

For the past several years, the most recent innovation in ophthalmic surgery – the femtosecond laser – has dominated ophthalmology meetings. Femtosecond lasers offer more precision, less tissue damage, and the ability to operate through smaller incisions in comparison with metal blades. In refractive procedures like LASIK, the precise lasers are used to cut the corneal flap. In cataract surgeries they’re used for corneal incisions, anterior capsulotomies, and for fragmenting the natural lens to make it easier to remove.

These lasers represented a major advance in corneal refractive (vision-correcting) surgery when they were first introduced to the market in 2011. It’s been a successful category for venture capitalists, providing several rich exits. Every major ophthalmic company has acquired a femtosecond laser company. Most recently, the Abbott Medical Optics Inc. division of Abbott Laboratories Inc. acquired OptiMedica Corp. in a deal potentially worth $400 million. [See Deal] The company’s predecessor, Advanced Medical Optics, was an early mover, acquiring IntraLase for more than $800 million back in 2007.

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